Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Falling Skies, Season 5, Episode 5: Non-Essential Personnel

We have some humans desperately sheltering in a
barricaded building with injured to look after, surrounded by Skitters and no
supplies. A woman, Isabella, thinks the need to leave since it’s not a great situation.
When she and some of the people make a run for it they are almost caught by
Skitters – and are saved by Pope and Anthony.

They recruit the survivors into his little gang, Anthony
pointing out people he considers liabilities who can’t fight- they’re driven
out. One of them, Isabella, points out she’s a nurse, useful – but she doesn’t
get to bring the other “liabilities” with her.

Later she tries to convince Pope that she just did it to
try and get them indebted to her – presenting herself as ruthless and selfish and
knowing people only did what they could to get something back. Pope also tells
her about his happy kidnapping.

He’s good at multi-tasking because while doing this he’s
also taunting Tom and making him play hide and seek for Hal (kind of proving
his point that Tom is willing to completely drop the mission for the sake of
his family, but not anyone else’s). Pope continues to convince us he’s
completely lost any grasp of humanity or decency. Anyway he cut Hal so nurse
Isabella treats him and Hal tries to convince her not to join the dark side

Tom runs into the guys who were kicked out of Pope’s camp
who update him on Pope and his numbers. He also knows Isabella isn’t a nurse.
An increasingly more berserk Pope beats up Hal and almost kills him trying to
get him to admit that Tom has caused many people to die. Of course he doesn’t.

They also get attacked by a super-skitter that wounds one
of them – so Pope kills the injured guy. Yet he still has followers who agree
with this. But Isabella isn’t a fool, she’s raided Pope’s supplies and is ready
to run. Now Hal has to convince her to take him with her and risk her life for
a man she’s just met. Of course she does.

Tom has some more alien ex-wife hallucinations. Honestly
it’s a choice between Pope or Tom, humanity doesn’t deserve to be saved. Because
if Tom dies the WHOLE WORLD IS DOOOOMED because without him the Espheni will
win and destroy them all

Tom goes in (because pleas to save the world don’t
compare with his son) and he and Pope end up shooting at each other. We have a
firefight with bonus flying Skitter. Tom, Hal and Isabella escape – but Pope is
not dead so this damn plot line will creep forward a little longer.

Meanwhile Weaver is leading the rest of the men on to
somewhere (DC and the cloaking I think) when they’re randomly ambushed by
people demanding a cut of their supplies. Weaver decides to pretend to
surrender then pretend that Anne is his wife before negotiating with the random
guy and wasting a whole lot more time than I actually care to spend. He ends up
taking Weaver hostage.

Weaver manages to free himself and is joined by Ben and
Maggie (who have a spikes moment). Weaver talks about his experience of grief –
because the man has lost his family – and gives him a stirring recruitment
speech about his group being a new family.

They take him with them because he needs help – a very
not-subtle contrast with Pope who kicks out people who are liabilities.

Y’know, Pope being ruthless and cruel and not caring
about people? I can see that. I can see most of his gang of fellows like that
as well. But only with Anthony’s entire personality being completely wiped
would Anthony be part of it. One of the teeniest tiniest elements of development
that has ever gone into Anthony has been that he cares. Now this I going to be
erased because of narrative convenience? Why, in the name of all that is
remotely sensible, would Anthony sign up for this bullshit?

And you know what? I’d be mega pissed if I were Pope. No time to save Sarah but
cat and mouse for Hal? Sure. But Weaver can delay them for two days because
some guy they’ve never met is grieving?

This is the final season of Falling Skies I would quite like that to be spent trying to address
the aliens and achieving something. Instead we have Pope – who should have died
seasons ago, giving everyone migraines, Tom abandoning his mission to play hide
and seek with Pope (which, again, really was Pope’s point all along) and Weaver
repeating the same old negotiating with desperate survivors plot line. Again.
How are these people even out here still after the killing and the internment
camps and schools and supply shortages and who knows what else?